Sustainability new focus for Antioch College

Leaders of the revived Antioch College intend to make the crisis in sustainability a focus for academic programs, according to President Mark Roosevelt in his State of the College address on Friday, May 20. The talk was given at the beginning of the college pro tem board’s weekend meeting.

“The way we live in America today is not sustainable. Period. The evidence for this is overwhelming and mounting every day,” Roosevelt said.

As part of the sustainability focus, the college may create a working farm on campus, on what is now the college golf course, according to Roosevelt, who said he and the board are talking about specifics. If the farm project takes place, students, all of whom are required to work 10 hours a week on campus, could take part in food production.

Many young people have an intuitive understanding of the importance of food in sustainability issues, Roosevelt said.

“Kids get it,” he said. “They get it and know it, they feel it and want to live it.”

To be able to offer the necessary classes, the tiny college will need to make good use of all of its human resources, according to Roosevelt.

“We need breadth,” he said. “We’ll have to cross boundaries. I want to soften the boundaries between administrators and faculty.” Specifically, he said, that could mean that some administrators, including himself, take on some teaching responsibilities.

For a more detailed look at Roosevelt’s talk, see the May 26 Yellow Springs News.

President Roosevelt asserts that “The way we live in America is unsustainable. Period. The evidence for this is overwhelming and mounting every day”.
If how long an average American can expect to live is any measure of sustainability, how can he explain the fact that, when he was born in 1955, life expectancy stood at about 68 years, while a child born into today’s America may expect to wend through this “vale of tears” for nigh unto 75. That’s almost a 10% increase in his own lifetime. That’s a rather incredible achievement, when you think about it.